Wednesday, 28 March 2012

So did you hear that St Ali will soon be opening on the northside? While the original St Ali continues to power on in South Melbourne, the site for St Ali North has been chosen in Carlton North: a long, skinny lot that runs alongside the bike path, behind Velo Cycles on Nicholson Street. To tap even further into the synergy that seems to exist in Melbourne between specialty coffee and cycling, blueprints of the new cafe tweeted by Sal Malatesta indicate a coffee "ride thru" for cyclists on the bike path wanting their caffeine to go.

On Saturday I went with Hannah to The Richmond Weekender in the old Channel 9 TV studios (for more info about the concept behind the month-long pop-up, see The Design Files). The Homemakers Market wasn't running while Hannah and I were there, but we stickybeaked inside the Speakeasy Cinema and shared a serve of Fancy Hank's Bar-B-Que at the Graham Canteen: pulled Otway pork, North Carolina ribs and Parwin Angus beef brisket (all sold by weight) with condiments and salads. Not bad by Melbourne standards, and for those who miss out at the Graham Canteen there's talk of Fancy Hank's putting in future appearances at Abbotsford Convent.

For those still keen to check out The Richmond Weekender, its last days of operation are this Saturday and Sunday - and on the Sunday they're running The Homemakers Market again, from 10am-3pm.

- Allan Campion wrote a handy little list of Melbourne CBD Highlights on The Melbourne Foodie that you can recommend to your visitors from out of town. Reminds me that my own Visitors Guide is in dire need of an update!

Melbourne Gastronome Map

This map shows all Melbourne venues reviewed on Melbourne Gastronome (with links to reviews). For a full screen version, clickety click here (any feedback you may have is warmly encouraged... I'm making this up as I go along)